


Misunderstandings

by FantasticFangirl21



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-17 22:14:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28981701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FantasticFangirl21/pseuds/FantasticFangirl21
Summary: Leo, his brothers, April and Casey have just returned to the lair after their nightly patrol. Leo is frustrated because Karai has been missing for ten days along with Shinigami and neither have contacted Leo or his brothers and he is worried. April goes with Donnie as he is heading to his lab to experiment on a device to study April’s powers. Casey stays the night with Raph to read comics and hang out, Mikey goes to rewatch Space heroes and Leo heads to the dojo to meditate.
Relationships: Casey Jones & Raphael (TMNT), Casey Jones/Raphael (TMNT), Donatello & April O'Neil (TMNT), Donatello/April O'Neil (TMNT), Karai & Leonardo (TMNT), Karai/Leonardo (TMNT), Michelangelo & Shinigami (TMNT), Michelangelo/Shinigami (TMNT)
Kudos: 6





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah so disclaimer, injury and poison 
> 
> Anyway I’m not really sure what exactly this is lol uhh it’s one of my earlier writings so it’s not great but I still like it, it’s a bit of a mess a ton of stuff happens and it’s part one to a two part story, the next part is what happened with Donnie and April before Karai came in so yeah! Please enjoy or don’t because it low key is a mess 😂

Karai x Leo (Leorai)

Takes place after the series ends

Leo begins to meditate, blocking everything out and focusing on nothing, attempting to clear his head of her. It proves impossible, he's lost her so many times already, and this time she left with no warning and hasn't contacted him since. He tries again to focus but the anxieties just keep pouring into his head. She could have been kidnapped, one of Shredder's old henchmen could have taken her. She could have been in a plane crash on her way somewhere. She could have been taken by the Kraang who should be gone, she could have been double mutated or experimented on. She could have drowned, scientist could have found her, she could be gone for real this time. His mind swirls with endless unrealistic possibilities, driving him mad with hurt and fear. Why would she leave on purpose? Why wouldn't she tell me? Is she okay? He suddenly feels a pull on his spirit, telling him that he is not alone within the room. He hears the leaves above him rustle and immediately recognizes Karai's aura emanating from the tree, a million feelings rush through him as he realizes that she is here, alive and okay. Happy feelings of relief and excitement rush through him quickly, leaving behind only the feelings he has been suppressing, hurt, anger, confusion, and the suffocating feeling of loneliness. 

“How nice of you to finally drop by Karai,” Leo says sarcastically, looking directly above him in the tree where Karai is hiding. 

Startled by his tone, Karai’s foot slips and she falls, landing stealthily as if she had meant to do that. She stands and walks over to Leo taking a seat on the floor in front of him in the same meditative position. Leo looks at her angrily, wondering what kept her away for so long, and kept her busy enough to not even bother to contact him. 

“Well, I figured you missed me.” Karai says playfully with a wink, but as she looks at Leo she is startled by the lack of confidence in his deep blue eyes. She has seen this defeated look in him before, twice, once when she first met him on the rooftop, he was taking out her foot soldiers to let out his frustration from his brother's lack of respect. Then again when she captured him while Shredder was away in Japan, she noticed when she took his swords that “Lame-a-nardo” was written on one of them. She had come to learn that Leo’s only weakness was family, when it came to his family they were the only ones who could truly hurt him. She searches his face wondering what had occurred this time, he notices her staring and turns to look into the living room. 

“Oh? You suddenly thought I would miss you after ten days of not caring how I felt?” He retorts, watching a stealthy black cat walk over to Mikey watching TV. “And you brought Shinigami?” He looks back at Karai expecting an answer. When she does not give one he sighs and looks into her shining gold iris’. “Look Karai do you know how worried I was… I mean you can't just disappear!” He watches as she looks ashamed and breaks his hurt gaze, she casts her eyes to Shinigami and Mikey. He continues, “I just- anyway, it's fine, at least I know you're alive.” Leo casts his hurt eyes to the floor and his posture begins to deepen as he sinks into a sad slouch. When he looks back up Karai is already looking at him.

“Leo are you okay?” She asks concerned, seeing Leo's defeated eyes and hurt posture. In that moment she realizes it was not their brothers that hurt him this time… it was her. He stiffens, turns sharply from her gaze, and regains his rigid posture, and stands up to leave.

“Yeah I'm fine Karai, thanks for caring. Feel free to stay, I'm going to sleep.” He says bitterly, stalking off to the door of the dojo. As he nears it, a hand grabs his arm and stops him. “What Karai?” He snaps as he turns to her, she looks up at him sharply and starts to speak. 

“What the heck is wrong with you today Leo? I have never seen you THIS moody.” She snaps at him, he stares coldly back at her in response. Her voice softens, bits of hurt and confusion slipping into her words. “Leo, what's wrong… this- this isn't you okay. This isn't the kind and confident and considerate Leo that I know. I need you to talk to me because I don't know what's wrong and you being so- angry lashing at me is not solving anything.” Karai places both hands on his shell and looks up at him, as she does his cold stare begins to crack. His rigid posture and cruel eyes begin to melt as she breaks his facade of anger. 

Karai leads him to Splinter's old quarters and closes the door leaning against it before sitting down. 

“Now… tell me whats wrong.” she says taking his hands into hers.

“I'm sorry Karai, I just- I- well, you disappeared and I had no Idea where you had gone, so every night during watch my post was at the Foot Clan lair to look for you, and- and maybe find clues to where you were or why you left. I missed you and- and I had no Idea if you were okay or if you were kidnapped or-or worse. I just… I didn't know what to do and I started fearing for the worst and- I don't know… I thought you might have been... gone.” As he finishes, Leo lays down on his back and lets out an exasperated sigh, his cold attitude settling in again. “There you go, that's why I'm not particularly in the best mood.” 

“Hey, I'm okay!” Karai says with a smirk, when Leo doesn't smile back she tries something else. “You know what? Let's train.” Karai stands and pulls Leo up. “Come on Leo, you love training and sparring.” 

“Karai come on, I'm not in the mood.” Leo says, pushing past her to the door of Splinters room. Just as he crosses into the dojo, Karai sweeps his feet out from under him and he falls into the floor. He sputters and sits up on his knees, “What the hell Karai! What was that?!” 

Karai faces him and looks at him innocently, “I don't know what you're talking about, I think you tripped.” Leo moves and stands back up. 

“No, Karai, this is not going to work on me, this kind of stuff only works on Raph. I don't get angry like he does.” Leo turns back toward the door as a shuriken hits the back of his knee pad with enough force that it buckles his leg. He falls again on to his knees, this time spinning his head around to stare daggers at Karai. 

“We’ll see about that Leo. How many times will you let a girl knock you down before you fight back?” Karai moves lightning fast to Leo, she kicks his shell and he catches himself with his arm before regaining balance, she can practically see his vein bulging out of his forehead. Leo grits his teeth and stands back up. 

“Leave me alone Karai.” He says in a tone of warning as he stands. 

She looks at Leo and stares him down with a playful glint in her eye. He starts to turn around again when Karai swings her katana for his shell. CLANG! The sound reverberates through the lair as her blade meets metal when Leo spins to counter her attack. 

“Enough of this Karai! I'm sick and tired of your games with me, and I said I'm not in the mood!” As Leo shouts as he skillfully twists her blade out of her hands and sends it flying into the wall. He then quickly sweeps her leg and sends her crashing sholderfirst into the tree with more force than he intended. 

“Owwww...” She moans quietly as she cradles her right arm. She sees Leo send a concerned glance at her arm, as if he would like to heal it but his pride won't let him. Karai begins to realize just how hurt he is by her recent disappearance and decides to explain herself rather than attempt to toy with him. “You know Leo, I actually came here to ask for one of those Turtle phones that Donatello makes. You know I'm not good at apologies but I went on a last minute trip to Japan with Shini to recruit more foot soldiers. My phone was lost somewhere on the trip before we landed in Japan, we have no clue what happened to it. Sorry okay? It's not that I meant to hurt you or worry you Leo... I promise.” She looks up at Leo whose face is slowly changing now that he understands what happened. He looks back down at her arm again and decides he should fix it.

“Is your arm okay? I didn't mean to throw you so hard.” Leo says as he moves to his knees in front of her to examine her arm. 

“Yeah it's fine, barely even a scratc- OWW!” She yelps when Leo squeezes her shoulder lightly. 

“Yeah no, you're not fine, I think you pulled it out of socket. Hold still, I can fix it.” Leo pushes her down to her back slowly so he can set it back in place. “Okay I'm going to count to three okay? One…Two… Three.” Leo fixes her arm and she grits her teeth against the pain. “Alright now stay there, this should help with the pain.” Leo moves into his meditative position again and begins the healing mantra Splinter taught him long ago. 

As Leo does it on her, Karai watches his intense concentration and focus as he recites the words. She admires his focus and the pain begins to fade, replaced by a warm, calming feeling in her shoulder. Leo stops the mantra and matches her gaze. 

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Leo grabs her hand and helps her to her feet. Leo smiles at Karai, his mood completely changed now that he understands everything that's been going on. And now that he knows she is okay. “So you came here for a T-Phone right? Then why'd you come visit me first?” Leo asks, his question somewhere between flirtatious and curious. 

“I don't know, maybe I was expecting my welcome to be a little more...” She pauses and places her hands on Leo's shell, “Exciting.” 

His face flushes as her face grows increasingly close to his, he closes his eyes and leans in. Her lips connect with his, sending fireworks throughout his body, his hands grip tighter on her waist and he pulls her into him. As her lips meet his, her body melts into him, her hands move up his shell and around his neck. The pair begin to move backward until Leo's back is pinned to the tree and Karai is pinned to him. He takes his hands to her legs and pulls them up, she latches her legs around him and they kiss harder. Drawing In every fiber of each other, their spirits together as one. After a few minutes their lips slowly break apart and they both breathe in each other's scent panting softly. Leo sinks down and sits, her still latched around him, head on his shoulder she sighs quietly. He sits holding her tightly never wanting to let her go. 

“Karai?” Leo calls softly. 

“Yes?” She whispers into his neck.

“I'm sorry, about earlier… I just- when you were gone I thought- I don't know. You never disappear without telling me… There was the off chance that you were…” his hands begin to shake slightly at the thought of her being gone. Karai places her hands on his to settle him.

“Don't think about that, It's okay… I'm here now. And trust me, I don't plan on leaving.” She looks at him and kisses him again, passionately like before. As they sink into each other Karai’s mind gets lost in the kiss, and her body slowly begins to transform. Her face turns pale and scaly, her eyes shift green, her legs mesch together to form a serpent's tail. Leo, mesmerized by the kiss as well realizes none of this, Karai does not notice the painless change as her lips continue to take Leo’s by storm. Everything else around him is lightyears away. The only thing that matters right now is Karai. They continue to kiss, drawing more into each other than they already were. Leo notices he is beginning to feel light headed, and notices a different taste on Karai’s lips. After a few minutes of making out they pull apart. Leo opens his eyes to see Karai’s emerald green irises staring back at him, that's when he realizes his lightheadedness was not caused by her kiss, but rather by her venom. Leo licks his now bleeding lips and tastes hints of Karai’s poison on them, an infatuating taste he has come to love. 

“Karai, can you loosen your grip on me, your tail is a bit too tight.” Leo says with a mischievous smile.

“Mmm, of course I'll move my tail for you babe- Wait! My tail?! When did I… wait, are you okay? How long ago did I transform?! The poison! We need to get it out. I'm so sorry! Lets go to Donnie!” She fusses as she quickly regains control of herself and her body changes back. 

She gets up to stand but before she can leave Leo grabs her hand and pulls her back down into his arms.

“Actually Karai, I'm immune to your poison now. That's what Donnie says at least, the mutagen in my blood adapted to the poison, because you had put so much in me at one time when you had the brain worm. Now whenever your poison is in me, it just makes me slightly lightheaded and sometimes I get a headache.” Leo says with a confident smile, he sways a bit, still slightly dazed from the intoxicating kiss. 

Karai scans his face worriedly for a second as he seems slightly disoriented, wait, my poison makes him dizzy and disoriented so it basically makes him… drunk? She grins and begins to wonder if more poison would make him more drunk or just make him tired. Her thoughts are interrupted when Leo brushes a stray piece of hair from her face. “I love you, you know that right?” He says softly to her as he moves his hands slowly up from her waist to her face. He gazes into her golden eyes then he leans in beside her ear and whispers, “Now, where were we?” 

Karai gets chills as his cool breath tickles her neck. So he's a flirty drunk, she thinks to herself, as he pulls her into him and they continue where they left off in their kiss. His lips begin to travel, finding her neck and exploring the pale plane, he carefully bites into her neck making her hiss with pleasure. She begins to regret wearing her armor today rather than a regular t-shirt so that she could give him more access to her shoulders and neck. He moves off of his spot on her throat and levels his face with hers again, watching her eyes as they flicker from golden to green. He is curious to see which side will win the battle, her feminine instincts or her snake instincts. 

She grins and her eyes turn bright green, in an instant she tackles him to the ground and sinks her teeth into his neck just as he had done mere seconds ago. His whole body buzzes with pleasure as he feels her toxin rip through his veins. She attacks his throat with passion and competitiveness as if this were a game to see who could be the most ferocious without crossing any lines. As Karai draws away from Leo's neck and her fangs and eyes return to normal she smirks on top of him, one hand to either side of his face and one leg to either side of his shell. As she retracts herself from him Leo's vision struggles to regain normalcy, he can make out Karai's slim figure atop him and that's all he needs to see. 

His competitive flirtatious instincts kick in with the new dosage of poison and he knees her leg in order to flip on top of her instead. He grins down at her, his eyes focusing more now that his mutagen is adapting. He is surprised to see her grinning slyly up at him in response, it's then that he notices a blue piece of cloth in her hand. He shifts his head over and leans down to get his mask back, rather than biting the mask though he slowly licks each of her finger tips, uncurling each one of them enough to retrieve his mask. He plucks it up with his teeth and dangles it in her face playfully, she stares at it breathlessly, still buzzing from his latest stunt, licking her hand. She is astounded by what the poison does to him, he becomes more… impulsive, a sexy less cautious side of Leo she never sees. He has already left a mark on her neck, fought for top and licked her hand, she's never really considered Leo as the top until now, and the change excites her. 

Her eyes turn green as she bites the dangling mask. She takes Leo by surprise with her sudden movement and uses the surprise to sit up and wrap him up in her tail. Her animal instincts take control and both of her hand snakes bite into his arms, her lips meet his with a typically deadly kiss. Leo is caught in bewilderment as her poison sears through his body from three different places, injecting him with enough toxin to eradicate all of his brothers in one fatal swoop. Karai kisses him until her body returns to normal and her eyes fade back to the usual golden discs. She looks up at Leo with a smirk and immediately realizes she had gone too far this time, his typical focused, and confident blue eyes were replaced with glazed and empty ones. His body shutters slightly and he topples backward into the dojo’s tree, he looks around, confused about what is going on, what he ran into, and where Karai went, his vision blurs and he blinks in an useless attempt to clear it. 

“Leo!” Karai calls as he blinks and tries to look around. She watches him sweep his eyes through the room and watches as he stares straight past her, and then as he looks confused. She walks over to him and places her hands on his shell to steady him. Leo looks down blankly at Karai as she does this, looking at her he slowly begins to recognize the blur in front of him to be Karai. Leo's lips and arms begin to slowly numb and his body's strength begins seeping out of him. His body shudders and he loses his balance falling to his knee. His skin begins to pale, his typical emerald green color sinking into sickly light green. 

“Donnie has an... antidote… too much poison… sorry karai… ” Leo whispers weakly to Karai and shutters again, his head bobs and his body crumples. “Numbness… Weakness…” Leo moans. 

“OH MY GOD LEO! Wait what did you say… Donnie, antidote, Numbness, weakness- The steps of my poison are, numbness, weakness, paralysis... fuck- Leo I'm sorry fuck-, I should have had better control of myself.” Karai tears up and quickly snatches Leo into her arms, throws down a smoke bomb, and materializes in Donnie's lab with Leo. “Donnie! Quick! I need help, I- I think I-” She stammars as she enters the oddly quiet room. She looks down to see Donnie knocked out with April on top of him. “APRIL WHAT THE HELL! WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY BROTHER?!?!” She yells, as April blushes dark red and jumps off of Donnie in shock.

“It's not what it looks like!” She shouts as Karai stares at her menacingly from a few feet away, “I- we were um… well he was experimenting on me- MY POWERS I mean and I fell into him and then I um.. I kissed him.” She says blushing awkwardly and looking down. “Then this happened! He just passed out, I wasn't sure what to do, and then you came in.” April looks back up at Karai and finds Karai laughing hysterically at her. That's when April notices a pale and moaning Leo in Karai’s grasp. “What the hell Karai! Wait what did YOU do to MY brother?!?!”

“I can explain!” Karai says, her laughter is silenced by April's angered quiry, she looks down at Leo who is now sweating and moaning from the poison. “I well- actually we were um- well I kissed him but I didn't realize I was in my snake form… so um, then he just, yeah now he's like this.” 

“Okay well I could have guessed that, but isn't he practically immune? How much toxin did you expose him to?” April asks sternly.

“I- Well I- I may have gone a bit overboard, I'm not really sure what happened… I kept turning into my snakeform without trying and he kept getting bit…” Karai stammars and looks away.

“Well I guess we both pretty much did the same thing.” April says with a laugh looking up at Karai who is also laughing. Their laughter is interrupted as Leo moans loudly and his joints begin to contort. 

“Paralysis! We need to hurry! Wake Donnie I'll set Leo down on the lab table for him!” Karai says panickedly at April who uses her telekinesis to break into Donnies peaceful slumber. 

‘Donnie please wake up we need you, Leo is hurt really bad by accident and we don't have much time, she says to Donnies subconscious, WAKE UP.’ Donnies eyes flutter and he opens them to April's hand on his head and she anxiously helps him up. He groggily sways as April jerks him to his feet, April holds his arm to help steady him as he surveys his lab. He immediately becomes aware of April's hand on his arm and blushes dark green as he remembers their previous encounter mere minutes ago. His embarrassment is replaced by alarm as he remembers what April said when she woke him, he unfreezes and rushes to Leo's side. 

“Oh no this is bad, April I need you to go to my freezer in the corner of the lab and grab the purple test tube. Karai I need you to get me my centrifuge from the cabinet to your right, it's a giant white circular item.” The girls take off in separate directions as Donnie looks over Leo's wounds, three snake bites on his body and evidence of two instances by mouth. Donnie surveys Leo's body with his devices to get a look of what is going on inside Leo's body as well as outside. The girls each return with the inquired upon item, Donnie quickly moves the purple test tube of antidote into the centrifuge and sets it for five minutes. 

Leo groans quietly causing Karai to move over to him, she stands directly beside him and grasps his tense hand, his paralysis slowly calms and his eyes vibrant blue slowly dims as he starts to slip into the blackout phase. 

“Leo I'm so so sorry, please be okay…” His pulse remains steady on Donatello's monitors, but begins to drop significantly lower than a normal pulse. Karai looks up to the monitors confused at the sudden drop in heart rate.

“If Leo is suffering from poison intake, shouldn't his pulse be faster than normal?” Karai asks Donnie. Who is shifting his worried gaze back and forth between Leonardo on the table and his centrifuge. He looks up and follows Karai’s line of vision to the monitors. 

“Yes… that should be correct… hmm this is strange,” Donnie says, “April, do you think you can go into his subconscious and figure out what is going on? I know we have taxed your powers quite a bit today but his vitals are lowering and that should not be happening, if they drop any lower, It could be... fatal.” April moves to Leo's other side and places both hands on the temples of his head.

April focuses intensely on breaking through Leo's weakening mind and finds the reason for his sudden drop in pulse. In the center of his mind she finds his spirit in a meditative position in a spiritual apparition of the dojo. He is chanting something in japanese and doing hand motions as well. His spirit is somehow glowing as he chants this, she watches as his hands glow and as he places his hands on his snake bites. The light spreads over his entire body blanketing him in a white aura. April moves closer to him. Sensing her, his head shoots up and he stares at April breaking his concentration. The light fades and she watches as his spirit’s snake bites begin to sear red again and his body shakes in pain.

His pulse suddenly shoots up in his physical form, startling Donnie and Karai, both jump as Leo cries out in pain while he is still asleep, his cry echoing through the lair like an alarm. 

“AHhh… April… What are you… Doing here.” He says on the spiritual plane to April through the searing pain. 

“Your body is dying Leo, we needed to see why your pulse was so low. Don't worry Donnie is making the antidote now.” April takes two steps toward the paleing Leo as he regains his balance and sits back in his meditative position. 

“Good… I need to… focus, to slow… the poison… ” He proceeds to concentrate, blocking April out again and resumes his chanting. He begins to glow once again on the spiritual plane and his physical body's pulse slows once again as he struggles to slow the poison inside him. He pauses his chant and looks straight to April, she can see the pain in his eyes as he somehow maintains his concentration and opens his mouth to speak, “Hurry, I can't keep it… slowled for very… long, my physical form is… fading.” he huffs. 

At these words April nods in acknowledgment and quickly retreats from Leo’s spirit, returning her mind to the earthly plane. She begins to regain her senses and opens her eyes to complete chaos in Donnie's lab. Mikey is directly across from April exactly where Karai used to be, dangling pizza over Leo and listing all of the reasons Crognard the Barbarian is better than Space Heroes in a worried attempt to wake him up. Raph has Karai in her human form pinned to the wall with his Sei to her neck yelling at her to explain why she poisoned Leo. Shini, in an attempt to protect Karai, was attacked by Casey and the two of them are fighting. Donnie is frantically trying to stay calm as he mixes the last bits of his antidote and shakily fills a needle with it. Donnie looks around anxiously before attempting to walk over to Leo, with all the chaos it is obvious he is worried the antidote will break or be injected into the wrong person by accident. His worried glance meets Aprils and he is shocked to see her back, he sends her a silent plea to help him and she nods in response. April quickly maneuvers onto one of Donnie's lab tables and uses her mind to separate and raise everyone into the air except for Donnie and herself.

“STOP IT! What the heck is wrong with you guys! Leo is out for ten minutes and you all start freaking out?! Fighting is not going to wake Leo up or heal him! We've been through this before and Leo is always fine afterward. You guys need to have faith in him and in Donnie!” She takes a moment to look at each of their faces and continues. “And another thing, Donnatello has been working to perfect an antivenom for Leo and all you guys have done is stress him out and make him work slower!” April scolds everyone, meanwhile Donnie is at Leo's side, injecting him with the antivenom. She looks back to everyone else, aloft in the air by her powers, Raph is staring daggers at Karai while Mikey looks down fearfully at Leo being injected. “Raph, stop fighting Karai, it was an accident. Casey and Shinigami, you too, chill out. Mikey calm down and quit freaking out, Leo will be fine. I found out his pulse was so low because his spiritual form is chanting the healing mantras to slow the movement of the poison in his body so that he could buy Donnie more time.” Donnie looks up at April and smiles, holding up the empty syringe to tell her he has completed the injection. April sets the group down gently and they all quickly gather around Leos bedside. 

April smiles at them and suddenly sways, dizzy from the power she has drained in one night catching up to her and her balance falters. Her vision darkens and blurs as her body crumples from the table. She falls into Donnies arms, as he saw her swaying and ran to catch her, just like he did on the first day they met when she fell out of that helicopter. She looks into Donnie’s fiery, red, compassionate eyes and her heart flutters as those eyes meet hers, she sleepily lifts her head and kisses him gently before curling up in his big broad arms and losing consciousness. 

Donnie just stares dumbly down at the angelic girl in his arms as his lips tingle from the fleeting warmth of her kiss. He regains his senses and walks back over to the group to check on Leo, April still unconscious in his arms.

Leo’s vitals slowly stabilize to a normal pace and his body begins to relax as the color returns to his face. The team looks down at him hopefully as he sighs softly in his sleep, the sound a stark contrast from the recent moans and yells of pain. Everyone collectively lets out a breath.

Leo’s eyes open slightly and he looks around at his family gathered around him, he notices Donnie with April in his arms and makes a mental note to ask about what changed between them later. His gaze moves to Raph who is looking relieved down at him, Leo notices Raph flick an angry glance at Karai before returning his gaze back to his brother. His eyes move to Karai as she struggles to keep a straight face in front of him under the obvious heat of Raph’s glare. Leo’s head continues to pound viciously as his gaze stops on Mikey grinning widely and whispers, “Space heroes is better.”

The tension in the air fades, and Leo attempts to sit up swaying in doing so, Karai and Raph both move to help at the same time, each grabbing an arm to steady him as he slides off the table to stand. “Will you two help me to the- ack- dojo.” Karai and Raph look up at each other realizing he is referring to the both of them, they share an angry glance and nod to signify Leo is the most important. The two help Leo walk to the dojo and the rest of the group disperse back to whatever they were doing before. Mikey and Shini to television, Casey to comics and Donnie reviews data while April sleeps in his arms. The three arrive at the dojo and set Leo down leaning against the tree, he watches as they awkwardly sit down in front of him, taking special care to separate themselves from each other. 

“So,” Leo starts, “What happened?” Leo asks.

“I could ask Karai the same thing,” Raph looks over at Karai, “What exactly happened Karai? Because if I’m not mistaken those are snake bites.” He asks her angrily while getting closer to Leo protectively. 

Karai shifts uncomfortably and glances from Leo to Raph. “I- I didn't mean-”

“That's not what I was referring to Raph.” Leo says, cutting Karai off. He glares at the two with a stern look comparable to Yoshi himself, both realize that Leo is in his Sensei mindset and that this is a serious conversation. “I meant what happened between you two while I was out. I could hear April having to scream at the two of you to stop. I would like to know exactly what conspired while I was unconscious.” Leo glances at Raph, signaling him to speak first. 

“Leo you were hurt! I had to do- something… I just, I was with Casey reading comics in my room and then you- you screamed in pain. So I ran to Donnie's lab and found you moaning, April with her hands on your head, Mikey freaking out and Shinigami talking with Karai who was trying not to cry like a freaking idiot while holding your hand. Then- then I saw your snakebites. I- I just lost it. I was pretty sure she attacked you, or that she was evil again, or I don't know! You were bit and unconscious and she was standing there clearly the one who did it and my anger just- It just-” He stops and looks over at Karai. “I'm sorry, I was mad again. April said it was an accident…” he says attempting to calm his anger. Raph glances over at Leo and immediately becomes aware of the bright red bites on his older brother's arms and neck. Upon seeing them his anger flares once again and his blood begins to boil. “Why am I even apologizing? The lying snake herself is right there! You can't bite someone multiple times with your snake venom on accident! You even have the power to control your shift between snake and human, so how exactly can you accidentally ATTACK my brother?!” Raph's anger boils over and he tackles Karai and pins her down with his sei. Leo gets up quickly to separate the two but stops when he sees Karai’s hand motioning for him to wait.

“Raph I know you're mad, and I understand why… I probably deserve it to be honest. I- I lost control of my physical form while my mind was involved with… other things. I should have kept better control of myself and should have protected Leo rather than hurt him. I am really sorry and did not mean to poison him… I was just a bit absent minded at the moment…” Karai blushes and quickly stifles it, but not before Raph notices the blush. 

“What! Why the hell are you blushing! Were you trying to kill him?! Is his life a game to you!? What do you even mean you were absent minded?! What could possibly have distracted you?” Raph presses his sei harder into her neck, misunderstanding her smile and blush. Karai struggles for breath as Leo quickly gets to the two and disarms Raph, yanking him off Karai and to his feet. Raph stumbles backward in shock as Leo advances on him, a determined look on his face. Raph prepares for a fight but tries to talk Leo down, “Look Leo I know I assaulted Karai and all but this is not a good idea, you just were poisoned, you should be resting bro. And besides! She POISONED you, you should be mad at HER not me!” Raph puts his arms up to block but not before Leo tackles him with a hug. Raph nearly loses his balance, but regains it, looking at Leo in surprise.

“I know you were just worried about me, but I'm okay. I am your older brother after all.” Leo continues to hug Raph and Raph begins to hug him back, “Look Raph what really happened was… we were actually making out and uh well I guess I'm a good kisser because she kinda turned snake on instinct… she didn't attack me but she got super into it and didn't really realize she had bit me at all until she turned back human. And well, let's just say that at that point my body had more poison than blood in it.” Leo breaks away from the hug and looks at Raph who has an impressed and understand look on his face.

“Ohhhh I get it now,” he says with a sly grin, “You were trying to get her between the sheets weren't you?” Raph glances at Karai watching from across the room, unable to hear what's going on. 

“WHAT! No! I would never…” Leo sputters, blushing bright green, “Ugh Raph of course you would think that! No we were just kissing… intensely. Anyway! Now that you know what happened and you are not mad at her anymore can you go so I can talk to her?” Leo begins to push Raph to the door.

“Hmm yeah I'm sure talking isn't the only thing you'll be doing.” Raph winks at a flustered Leo. 

“Jesus! Will you just go already!” Leo finally gets Raph outside the doors but before closing them he yells “Look, it's Mona Lisa!” and points in a random direction. 

“Mona?! Where!” Raph looks in the direction of Leo's hand.

“Ha! bye Raph.” Leo yells while shutting the doors.

“Why you little-” Raph begins before Leo playfully smiles as the door shuts in Raphs face. 

Leo turns back to the dojo and leans on the door, “Christ, I thought he would never leave, sorry Rai he uh, didn't understand what happened and his anger got the best of him,” He says, scratching the back of his neck while walking over to Karai. “Is your throat okay?” Leo asks kindly, as he sits down behind her. He then picks her up and places her into his lap, she turns her head toward him and smiles.

“Yeah Leo, I'm okay… I understand how Raph feels. Anger… it's hard to control. I deserved it though, I- I shouldn't have let my instincts take over, you didn't deserve that. I- we, we should stop, I couldn't live with myself If I hurt you like today. When I poisoned you before it was different, I wasn't in control of myself, I could see it all happening but I couldn't do anything! Just watch as I hurt everyone I love and everyone who ever treated me kindly. It was awful.” Karai shudders as Leonardo strokes her hair. She lays her head on his shell and tries not to cry, she can never show weakness, even when she is with Leo. She hurt him, again, and this time she did it without being controlled, twice in one night had she hurt him, both emotionally and physically.  
“I- Leo I- I’m…really…-” To Karais surprise Leo takes her face gently with his free hand and points her chin up toward his face. He gazes into her sad eyes and brings her lips to meet his, the kiss sends warmth through Karai and she melts into him. Leo breaks away and as quickly as the kiss had begun, it ended. 

“You don't have to say it,” Leo says leaning his forehead against hers. “I forgive you.” 

With those three words Karai loses her grip on her emotions. They flood through her, her strongest bottled emotions taking hold. Fear, anger, self loathing, loneliness, hopelessness, and sadness. Fear of failure and fear of hurting others again, fear of showing weakness. Anger at herself for hurting others and not having greater control over her powers. Self loathing for all the wrong she has done in the past, for all her vengeance. Loneliness from being so closed off from others that she feels like she can not have any bonds with people, especially from Leo. Hopelessness from the fact that she does not deserve this amazing family that she has, and hopelessness from being unable to protect those she loves. Sadness that she can't seem to do anything right for those who she loves, for her brothers, her clan, her boyfriend. She begins to cry as these suffocating emotions pull her under, she cries into Leo who holds her tight while stroking her hair. The two stay like that for a long while, until finally Leo speaks.

“I'm here. I will listen if you need me to, you can talk to me… about all of it. I'm ready to listen.” He smiles at her and kisses her forehead. She pulls away from him a little and dries her tears, attempting to settle her emotions back into their bottle once more. That's when Leo says something unexpected that breaks Karai’s bottle completely. “I love you. And I will never leave you.” 

“I- I love you too.” Karai says with a smile, that's when she kisses him with happy tears in her eyes. He sweeps her up into the kiss and they spend the rest of the night together cuddled up in the dojo.


	2. Donnies Dilemma

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah so again I’m not sure what this is exactly and it low key sucks but like ya know I felt like posting it because some people may enjoy it

Donnie x April

Earlier in Donnie's Lab

“Uhh Donnie is this going to hurt?” April asks nervously. She looks up at the dome on her head as it glows ominously and she begins to question it's safety. 

“Of course not April! Well as long as I keep it on minimum levels anyway…” Donnie replies, tinkering with a remote that he uses to control the helmet. 

“Because the first time we used this thing I went blind, and the second time an alien spirit took control of me and I moleculary separated you.” April looks to Donnie as he scrambles around her tinkering with everything to ensure she won't be hurt or experience any mishaps like last time. 

“No need to worry April this shouldn't hurt not one bit or cause any Ill effects! I've fixed it up from last time!” Donnie says as he carefully attaches wires to different parts of her body. “Okay everything is ready to go! Now, take your time. April we’re going to start with a simple exercise like last time. I want you to tell me what you see on this card that I am looking at.” Donnie holds up a card facing him with a picture of Raph on it. She closes her eyes and focuses on Donnies brain, easily breaking through his thoughts to see the card's picture.

“It's Raph” she replies within seconds. “Come on D, got anything harder? I think I can read cards fine.” 

“Okay, okay but this is not just about what you can and can't do, I'm also trying to read your brain activity with this device so I can build something to help you control it… you know other than that horrible crystal. Now, who is in this picture, tell me from my right to my left.” 

Donnie picks up a picture of the team all together for lunch from a few weeks back. Once again, within seconds April dives straight into the picture. 

“Okay Leo, Karai, Shinigami, Mikey, Raph, Casey, Me, then You. We’re all sitting on the bar stools at Mr. Murakami’s, eating pizza gyoza. Raph and Casey are arguing over who did best in the latest fight, Mikey is stealing from Raph because he's not looking, Shinigami is cheering Mikey on, Karai and Leo are discussing something quietly and I was teaching you how to properly use chopsticks. That sound about right?” April says smugly to Donnie as he puts the picture down.

“Yep! April you are spot on. Now I want you to do something harder, I want you to levitate metalhead from one corner of my lab, to the other,” Donnie says. “WITHOUT hitting anything please.” 

April focuses for a while then she picks the bot up high enough to bypass everything in Donnie's lab and moves him at a moderate pace over to the other side of the room. Setting him down slowly in the corner of the room. She looks to Donnie and asks, “Come on Donnie for real, how is this helping.” 

“April I already told you, I'm not just testing your powers… I'm reading the brain activity that comes with them-” CLANG! Donnie is interrupted by a sharp metallic sound emanating from the Dojo. “What is Leo doing in there… Oh! Karai must be back. Anyway April I want to see how much not having the Aeon Crystal has hindered your powers as well. Do you want to try your psionic powers again?” 

“Yeah sure D!” She says.

“Okay now I want you to focus on my thoughts and tell me what I am thinking.”

“Okay,” She responds, breaking into Donnies brain. “You're confused and intrigued at the complexity of my powers but you're also excited to try to decipher them later. Now you're looking at Shinigami as she sits in her cat from Mikey's lap while watching TV and wondering If she will turn back human anytime soon because you dislike her cat form, because you hate cats. Now you're looking at me and feeling happy, thinking about how far I've grown with my powers… Now you're thinking about how amazing you think I am-”

“Okay, you did great please get out of my mind now!” Donnie blushes dark green and coughs. He continues to blush as he attempts to clear his thoughts and focus on what he is doing. April laughs to herself watching him scrabble around as he tries to calm his ever so loud and flustered thoughts about her. “Oh-Okay so next you're going to look into the mind of someone farther away, the closest people to us are Shinigami and Mikey in the living room, then you will look into Raph and Casey inside Raph's room, finally you will attempt to look into Karai and Leo in the dojo, okay? We're going to test your telepathic reach from distances and how specific they can be.”

“Alright easy! I'll do Mikey first! Ummmm, right now he's trying to remember when he ate last and if he should go get more pizza. He ruled that out because he remembered that Shini is laying on him and he doesn't want to frighten her in her cat form. Now he is wondering if Captain Ryan will slap anyone in this episode and if Leo would like to come watch it with him. Now he's hungry again. Now he's wondering if witch cats like being petted.You want Shini’s now D?” 

Donnie nods in response tapping away into his computer, she continues. “Okay Shinigami is thinking about how fun her recent trip to Japan with Karai was, apparently that's where they were for those days. Now she's wondering If Karai has asked Leo about getting a T-Phone yet. Now she is wondering what they are doing in the dojo because she can't hear their swords anymore. Now she is thinking about how nice it feels for Mikey to be petting her. Now she is purring.”

“Okay that's good on them, sounds about accurate, and we even learned something new! Karai and Shini were just gone to Japan for these last days and that was Karai fighting with him in the dojo. Nice job April! Ready to move on?” Donnie asks, his skin has returned to normal shades as he has returned back to his analytical mindset.

“Well you said Raph and Casey next right?” She questions.

“Yeah.” Donnie replies. 

“Well… I'm actually a bit curious as to what Karai and Leo are doing.”

“Aren't they sparing?” Donnie asks.

“Did you hear what I said Shinigami was thinking? They have gone quiet, you can't spar quietly Donnie.” April laughs and decides to look into what is going on, “Give me just a sec.” April focuses on the dojo, it's harder to read people you can't see, but because she knows they are there she is able to break through. She gets to Leo first because she knows him better and can link with his mind easier. “He's thinking of… Nothing? How can someone think of… Nothing. Wait I feel something, his emotions are going crazy! He's mad and happy, excited and confused, longing and relieved… and he is very, very peaceful.” 

“Wait he's in the dojo with Karai right? And he's having so many emotions, and they are quiet? We could send a spy roach in to check things out if you like.” Donnie says while thinking what could possibly be going on.

“That's a great idea D!” she says to Donnie. He pulls out a spy roach and gives it instructions to go spy on Leo in the dojo, April watches as it scurrys off with it's orders and as Donnie fiddles with his computer. Finally, the roaches camera is cast to the computer and the two watch curiously as the bug crawls past Mikey and Shini, past the teens' rooms and through the doors to the dojo. They watch as the bug crawls up a wall and finally turns around to examine the room. Donnie and April share a collective gasp to see Karai and Leo pinned to the tree making out, seconds later Leo and Karai are done, they whisper quietly to each other after sitting against the tree, Leo cradling Karai. Then they start back up again, April watches in awe of their love and Donnie watches sadly. 

Having seen that she begins to wonder if she will ever experience feelings that strong toward another person, she starts thinking of Donnie, just sitting in front of her clicking away at his computer. She's noticed his obvious feelings towards her but… she just does not know how to react to them and sure she does think of Donnie as more than a friend. He's kind, loyal, caring, smart, he even likes a lot of the same things that she likes, but he's just… so much different than her. Well that's just hypocritical, technically she is the same, just a hybrid of two different things, it's not Donnies fault that she looks more human and he… doesn't. Then there's Casey, that idiot competes for her attention just like Donnie does, she doesnt mind his attention though, sure hes hotheaded, a little on the dumb side, and very impulsive but, he’s human right? But Is that… better? Does being human really overrule Donnie?

Donnie hides his face as he absent mindedly fiddles with his hands some to avoid eye contact with April as she seems to be deep in thought watching Leo and Karai kiss. He wonders if April will ever even look at him that way, as a romantic interest rather than a family member or close friend. He’s liked her since the moment he saw her, he has flirted, hinted and saved her countless times but there is one thing he knows he can't change and that may be the one thing she hates about him… he is not human. She can read minds for god's sake can't she see he just wants to be with her… all she does is toy with him, all the time just little hugs and cheek kisses here and there to give him hope. Then she turns around and continues to be completely oblivious to his feelings as she flirts with Casey. At the thought of Casey, Donnies frustration picks up, so does his fidgeting. He thinks of Casey and gets jealous of how human he is, enough to keep April's attention, and why? Just because he's a human?! Donnie notices April looking up at him and slows his fidgeting, clearing his recent thoughts in hopes that she didn't read them. He turns and smiles at her but as he does she gasps while looking at the screen.

“LEO!” April cries loudly watching as Karais body transforms into a scaly white snake. “She must have changed forms on accident! We have to warn Leo!”

“Woah woah woah! April calm down, remember that time Karai poisoned all of us?” Donnie asks.

“Yes and that's exactly what's going to happen to Leo if-” April stammers. 

“No, like I was saying, at that time Leo was exposed to so much of the toxin that the mutagen in his bloodstream began to adapt to the poison! Not completely of course but his body can now withstand relatively large amounts of poison inside him at one time.” Donnie says, interrupting April. 

“So… he is immune then?” she asks.

“Well not necessarily ‘Immune’, If he is exposed to too much of it it could still be deadly. Small amounts still make him disoriented and slightly lightheaded and or dizzy, but in this case I'm sure Leo will recognize that she has turned soon enough and she will change back and there will be minimal amounts of poison inside him.” Donnie replies watching as Leonardo whispers something playfully and causes Karai to freak out and back away from him, turning back human. Leo blinks a few times as if to clear his vision then pulls Karai back into his arms and talks to her. “See, just as I thought. He's fine, there's nothing to worry about April.” 

April looks from the video stream to Donnie, a bad feeling settling in her stomach.

“Well April, I'm pretty much done running tests for today, I got some pretty good readings and data to look at,'' he says, “you can go if you like.” Donnie would prefer April leave soon... especially since his thoughts are on her still.

“Oh, okay.” she says slowly, her intuition still telling her somethings wrong, finally she decides that she should just go and sort it at home. “But could you get this helmet off me first D?” She asks with a smirk.

“Oh sure April, I completely forgot,” he says with his cute little laugh. He gets up and takes April's helmet off, carefully unplugging the wires he put on her skin as well. He blushes slightly as he removes them then moves back a step so April can get off the stool. 

April quickly hops off the stool, the second her feet touch the ground her knees buckle, and she falls straight into Donnie who was so surprised that he lost his balance and fell on his back. April groggily attempts to get up, placing one hand on either side of Donnies head. Wow, she thinks to herself, I didn't even notice how much brain power I had used until just now. She looks down at Donnie who is nervously looking in every direction but her face and is dyed dark green with blush. The situation suddenly strikes April like a flash as she realizes that she is on top of Donnie, her face flushes pink with understanding and her heart flutters, her emotions take control and ask a question she has been wondering since the day Donnie rescued her from that helicopter. 

“Donnie,” April whispers, he finally turns his attention to the face of the girl on top of him, “do you love me?” 

Donnie peers into her eyes and his attention all goes to her, his answer is slow and deliberate, “Yes. I always have.” 

That is all April needed to hear, those four words immediately made her heart soar and her blood rush, she leans slowly down to Donatello's face below her and whispers, “That's all I needed to hear.” Her lips meet him and his world lights up, a hurricane of emotions spiral through him as he kisses the one person he has ever wanted. They kiss for a long while until April slowly parts from him, his heart soaring, his mind reeling, his breathing quickening and his lips buzzing. His brain refuses to settle and his body has to force shutdown, he passes out from sheer bewilderment. April, still on top of him, finally realizes after the kiss that Donnie is the person her heart has longed for this entire time. That kiss felt like it lasted a thousand lifetimes and yet she had never wanted to do something again more in her life. She looks down at Donnie, ready to tell him how she feels finally only to find him passed out with a cute gap tooth smile on his face. She watches him lay there peacefully. She can feel the emotions radiating off of him as he rests happily, excitement, happiness, longing, joy, confusion, and finally, at peace. 

That's when Karai appears with a broken Leo.


End file.
